Manolo Mendez

On our farm, for many years we had sheep and cattle. Many a time, I accompanied my uncle on three and four day trips to the village markets where we sold them. We slept like cowboys, outside, our for pillows, wrapped in our serapes. We herded our sheep and cows on horseback through brush, Pinsapo Spanish Fir, Almond, Olive, Poplar and Cork trees, and I learned to anticipate their actions and keep them together, dashing at full speed or slaloming between trees, sometimes jumping small dry arroyos (creeks) to bring back renegade sheep, calves or independent cows back to the path. Learning instinctively how to move fluidly with my , to over take, spin around, bring back or sometimes separate cattle or sheep. Leaning forward into the speed, leaning sideways to avoid branches, turning back to situate myself, without even thinking about it as a riding education, I learned to Photo: Back then...Manolo on the white horse with Juan Cid in the seventies at an stay “alive” in the . I learned to place my competition. They came second that day. Sadly Juan has passed away. body where it helped my horse best, to stay balanced in the saddle without pulling on the Balance is Confidence: Lessons Learned From Working , clamping my legs or pushing my seat into the horse’s back whether I was sitting, by Manolo Mendez with Caroline Larrouilh standing, leaning or turning my body half way left or right. I rode to stay on, and help my The brown leather I wear are over horse succeed in doing the work I asked of “Learning seventy-five years old. The carefully oiled, him, as conservatively and effectively as he Manolo Mendez was the first Head Rider, and one of supple hide was cut, hand tooled and possibly could. six founding members of the Royal Andalusian School stitched together for my uncle before We were poor, our were essential of Equestrian Art. Based in Jerez, Spain, the school is instinctively me and I have held them dear for forty- to the working of our farm, it would have one of the four classical schools which also include five years now. I am the only one who been unacceptable in my family to bring back a lame or exhausted horse to my mother, a the Cadre Noir in Saumur, the in handles, cleans and folds them, they are how to gifted horsewoman. Vienna and the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art a modest but priceless treasure. They are in Lisbon. A master horseman with over forty years also a reminder of where I came from It has never made sense to me that a rider should sit anchored into a horse, elbows of experience spanning classical , doma over 30 years ago, and of a way of riding move fluidly glued to the sides, hands and legs fixed. vaquera and jumping, Manolo is dedicated to a soft, and training horses, of understanding sympathetic and thorough training method which Demanding that the horse comply to their horses, that I was born into, and use balance, when a rider is perhaps 15-20% of prepares horses physically and psychologically for with my every day, in one form or another. a horse’s weight, and it is he, the horse, who each stage of training from training to Grand Prix Spain has a rich and long tradition of working does the majority of the work. and Haute Ecole. For more information on Manolo horse“ equitation: classical and country dressage used to Today, I still ride in independent balance visit: www.manolomendezdressage.com. manage vast herds of sheep, cattle and bulls. and I still adapt to the horse beneath me as The first lesson I learned was about rider balance. he learns to carry himself and a rider on his

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dvd set

Are you a Baroque Magazine subscriber interested in in-hand work? Take advantage of a special offer from Manolo Mendez Dressage for our readers.

Photo: Developing a strong, supple horse means he can carry himself and the rider is free to use his body and hands as he needs whether it is to close a gate or volte underneath a garrocha pole.

back. As he learns to travel laterally or do changes, or pirouettes Vaquera and Rejoneo and had three or four horses to work with and more, I still strive to help my horse by placing my weight, every day. sometimes in an exaggerated manner, where it helps him most. This kind of work requires that a horse knows how to do As the horse understands better and better what is asked of travers, shoulder-in, half pass, single and multiple pirouettes, him and develops the strength to deliver the work confidently, flying change, piaffe, passage and Spanish walk. While all these I return to a more traditional position though my seat is always movements are present in dressage, three things are different: alive. First, as we carry a pole, we have the reins in one hand not two. On a young horse, I learned to compromise, not too expect Second, this work includes some speed not found in dressage, too much. If I asked for a halt, I accepted it took a few steps until and third the repetition of the movements and the configuration "In-Hand Lessons with Manolo Mendez, Volume I," my horse could stop its momentum and stay in balance. As he of the figures we create are different. is a six hour introduction to working in hand with became more balanced, he was able to stop sooner and sooner For example, working with cattle or bulls, a rider and horse may horses of all breeds and disciplines. Designed to be until he could stop when I asked. It takes time for a young or have to spin three or four times in a series of tight pirouettes and untrained horse to learn a new balance and the more we help move out at warp speed only to do a half-pass to the left, one practical and un-intimidating, Volume One follows him, the sooner he will succeed. to the right, do a flying change and find themselves doing several the first five lessons of equestrian and biomechanics On a working horse, the riding’s first priority is always to help spins again only in the opposite direction. lecturer Jillian Kreinbring as she learns to shape, the horse, and so should it be on any horse, in any discipline. By comparison, in dressage, the same movements feel as though influence and enhance horses' postures and gaits with At fourteen, I went to work for the Domecq family on their they are happening in slow motion. property in Andalusia. There, I learned to ride Rejoneo but also This is the second and most important lesson I learned from this the help of a cavesson and a bamboo. Doma a la Vaquera and Acoso y derribo alongside Álvaro Domecq work. The more balanced and able to carry himself at high speed Romero. Soon enough, I was training his horses for Doma a la or in-place a working horse is, the more he knows the rider will To read about in-hand work and Manolo's training philosophy, inquire and pre-order the DVD please visit WWW.MANOLOMENDEZDRESSAGE.COM. 70. www.baroquehorsemagazinE.com www.baroquehorsemagazinE.com 71. To AustraliaNEW The Original feed balancer for horses

Photo: Carrying a heavy pole is not reason for a rider to not carry himself and sit lightly on his horse, this allows the horse in turn to rise up beneath the rider.

Before Before

Photo: In , the horse sometimes has to move at warp speed and make very sharp turns or spin multiple times. The horse is responsible for his balance and the rider for his own. The rider leans into the movement, lightening his seat to free his horse’s back and help him collect and turn as much as possible.

not block him but assist him in his work, the more he will trust his rider. Beyond developing fit, supple, athletic horses After After this work taught me that there is an intimate relationship Photo: And sometimes, it is about just having fun and letting your horse have a say. between confidence and balance. It is a lesson that applies Dinamico loves nothing more then to charge, and in this session, Manolo indulged him. to all horses, not just working equitation ones. Add a feed balancer to your horses regular feeding regime to: give them ours - and as they have One of the most pleasurable things I found as young boy to deserve ours, so do we have to Aid skin and coat health, improve digestion and nutrient uptake, promote and then man riding working horses was that it truly is deserve theirs. condition and topline and aid overall health and wellbeing. teamwork. In dressage, there is quite a of talk about harmony and partnership but I rarely see a horse that has In truth, riding can be boiled down any choice in the matter of how it is ridden. to this: If a rider and a horse are both independently balanced, they will have “I trust Riding a working horse, failing to listen to him when you confidence in their ability to move are in the middle of separating a cow or taking a group of together. If the rider makes helping Also available bulls to a new pasture, may get you killed. A working horse his horse his first priority, his horse not only has to be in independent balance to react and you. I will will give him his trust and have even move as fast as lightning without being blocked or slowed greater confidence in him. down by the rider (who will not process data as quickly as a horse with his eyes on a cow), but it has to be trusted that As the horse’s balance and guide confidence increase so will the quality it knows how to do its job. Blue Chip Blue Chip Blue Chip of his work and so can the rider’s Pro Lami-light Dynamic You train the horse, you make him fit and balanced, you trust in his horse grow. When these introduce him to his work gradually and safely and when High performance Feed balancer Joint and bone conditions are in place, there are very you but I feed balancer for for overweight supplement for he is ready and he is reporting to duty, when he has few limits to what can be taught and horses competing horses and ponies horses and ponies experience under his belt, then you have to say: “ I trust you. experienced. at high levels in all and those prone to ensure healthy I will guide you but I will also listen to you, and sometimes, sports including to laminitis. Aids joints, optimal These are lessons that come we will do it your way”. Because you are a pro. Because you will also racing, , cross weight loss, hoof mobility and bone carry me. Because you are doing the brunt of the work and naturally when we learn to ride in the country and more. health and more. strength. you know how the earth feel beneath your feet, and how fields and we have a job to do. When this cow feels to you today. You say, “I am your rider but our horse is our only companion listen to sometimes, you know better” and that is true of all horses, sometimes for entire days, and from not just working horses. his soundness, confidence and well being depends our livelihood and A good horseman should know the difference between sometimes survival, we learn to really you,“ his horse’s working instinct and disobedience wether he is value his generosity. That is the best Blue Chip feed balancers (Original, Pro and Lami-light) and joint To order or for more info: riding dressage, garrocha, jumping, etc... lesson of all, knowing how giving a supplement (Dynamic) are added to a horses regular feeding 040 892 0707 Like many a working horseman before me, I learned that horse is, if we give him the chance to while we ask for our horses trust, we should not forget to be. a regime. Each sack lasts an average horse 40 days. You should [email protected] expect to see a difference in your horse with 3 weeks. www.bluechipfeed.com.au

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